


Cold Shoulder

by DoomedKelpie



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Amnesia, Bullying, Depression, Drowning, Flashbacks, Foster Care, Memory Loss, Minor Character Death, Nightmares, Orphanage, Panic Attacks, Self-Harm, Sickness, Therapy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-11
Updated: 2017-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:09:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 28
Words: 17,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25532644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoomedKelpie/pseuds/DoomedKelpie
Summary: Jack Frost. That is the name of the boy who has snow-white hair and bright, blue eyes. That is the name of the boy who is ignored by almost everyone unless they're angry at him. That is the name of the boy who wishes he could end it all, but still holds onto the hope that things will get better.
Kudos: 14





	1. Frost

Jack Frost.  
That is the name of the boy who has snow-white hair and bright, blue eyes.  
That is the name of the boy who always wears a blue hoodie.  
That is the name of the boy who was found near a lake in the middle of the woods one day with amnesia.  
That is the name of the boy who lives in an orphanage because no one knows who his parents are, and no one has come looking for him.  
That is the name of the boy who is ignored by almost everyone unless they’re angry at him.  
That is the name of the boy who, because of this, tries to annoy people as much as possible.  
That is the name of the boy who ends up even more hurt when people yell at him for everything, even the accidents or things he didn’t do.  
That is the name of the boy who smiles despite everything because he’s afraid of what will happen if anyone sees his true self.  
That is the name of the boy who slices his own skin just to live another day.  
Jack Frost.  
That is the name of the boy who wishes he could end it all, but still holds onto the hope that things will get better.  
XXX  
“FROSTBITE!!!” Aster bellowed as he felt a snowball hit him.  
“What’s the matter, kangaroo? Can’t handle a little snow?” Jack grinned as he heard Aster say his name.  
“Go an’ play with the anklebiters, ya immature snowflake!” Aster growled.  
“Come on, it’s fun. See?” Jack said as he threw another snowball.  
This time, however, Aster dodged the freezing projectile easily. Just as it appeared that Aster was going to retaliate, however, the back of his shirt was grabbed by a larger boy.  
“Ay! Put me down, North!” he protested.  
“Can’t be late for class,” North, one of Aster’s friends, told him.  
With a huff, Aster decided to drop it and let North drag him to class. The pair’s other friends, Toothiana and Sandy trailed after them.  
Jack sighed.  
He stood there for a minute to think, but was quickly snapped back to reality as he heard the bell ring.  
“Shit!” Jack exclaimed.  
He ran to class and arrived two minutes late. This was, of course, one of the situations in which people actually saw him.  
“Frost, why are you late to my class again?” the teacher questioned, annoyed.  
“Obviously, I was playing checkers with a pink buffalo, and I lost track of time,” Jack explained with a wide grin.  
“See me after class,” the teacher told him, sighing at his student’s ridiculous excuse.  
Jack skipped over to his desk, falsely oblivious about the trouble he was surely in. Aster, who, to the Australian’s dismay, sat next to Jack, glared at him before turning toward the board.  
When the bell eventually rang, Jack went over to the teacher’s desk. As expected, he handed him a detention slip.  
“Aw, for me? You shouldn’t have,” Jack said obnoxiously.  
“My patience for you is running thin, Frost. The next time you’re late to my class, I’m sending you to the principal’s office. Do you understand me?” the teacher huffed.  
“Yup,” Jack answered.  
Jack then went to his next class, and arrived on time. Due to this, however, the teacher almost marked him absent. The only reason she didn’t was because he purposely tripped and knocked over his desk. This drew the teacher’s attention long enough to realize he was there, but it also made the other students burst out in laughter at his stupidity. After putting his trademark grin on his face, he fixed his desk and sat down.  
Once the lunch bell rang, Jack followed the crowd to the cafeteria. On his way there, someone bumped into him and knocked him to the floor. The student, however, just kept walking as if no one was there. Jack stood back up and continued to his destination.


	2. Detention

Jack Frost entered the classroom where detention was being held. Quickly, he glanced at the other students within. He didn’t recognize most of them, but the one he did recognize made his blood run cold.   
It was Pitch Black, the biggest bully in the school. He was the only person at school who always saw Jack, no matter the situation. If it had been anyone else, Jack would be elated, but the only reason Pitch noticed Jack was because Pitch noticed his insecurities. Being a bully, Pitch always took advantage of these insecurities at every chance he got. Jack tried to sit down unnoticed, but he saw Pitch’s cruel smirk.  
“As if detention wasn’t bad enough,” Jack thought.  
As the hour ticked by, Jack grew continuously anxious. Pitch looked over at him every few minutes, smirked, and then looked away again. The exact second the teacher said everyone could go home, Jack bolted out the door. However, he quickly felt a hand grab his arm. Jack cringed.  
“Why the rush, Jack? Oh, that’s right. The being invisible thing really is quite time consuming,” Pitch sneered. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”  
With that, Pitch released his arm and stalked away. Jack stood frozen for a moment before continuing his mad dash out of the school. Rather than go home, however, Jack ran into the forest. He kept going until he reached the lake. The very lake where he was found three years ago. It was frozen over, just as it was in Jack’s first memory. The ice glistened. The boy let his grin fall, but he actually felt happier than he had all day. This lake was the first thing he knew, and that somehow comforted him. He felt a strong connection to the lake, as if it held his memories he no longer had. As if it had a part of him hiding just beneath the surface of the ice. Jack flopped onto the snow at the edge of the bank and genuinely smiled at the cold caress of the beautiful snowflakes surrounding him.   
He ended up staying there until the sun had begun to set. He slowly rose from the ground. With a final look at the lake for the day, Jack trudged home.  
“Jack! You’re soaking wet!” Ms. Lilly, one of the caretakers at the orphanage, exclaimed when he walked in.  
“I was playing iin the snow,” Jack explained, his grin making its way onto his face again.  
“Go get changed. Dinner’s almost ready, and I don’t want you getting frostbite,” the woman ordered.  
“Okay,” Jack said, not wanting to argue that he felt better cold again.  
Quickly, he grabbed some clothes and headed for the bathroom. Once inside, he removed his shirt. He glanced at the mirror. Across his chest, backwards in reality, but correct in the mirror was two words, Jack Frost, written out in scarred flesh. The words had been there ever since he was found at the lake. They were the words that were his temporary, then permanent, name. The same, however, could not be said for the rest of his scars. Those had only started appearing in the past year, and Jack knew exactly where each one was from. A knife, kept hidden under a loose floorboard in Jack’s room. Before he let his thoughts run free, he threw on his dry clothes and exited the bathroom.  
After eating his dinner, Jack retreated to his room. He had a pile of homework to do, and he didn’t feel like getting in trouble for not doing it, since he would undoubtedly get in trouble for something else. Soon after starting his math homework, Jack’s mind began to wander. Despite his lack of memories, he somehow retained knowledge on how to do things. He could do average schoolwork for his assumed age, he knew how to function in daily activities, and he even knew how to skate. And yet, he couldn’t remember a single thing about himself from before he was found at the lake. Jack forced himself off that train of thought. He’d already given up on remembering everything.   
In the end, Jack ended up writing some wrong answers, wrote some incorrect work to make it look like he tried, and threw his stuff into his back pack. He then turned out the light and flopped onto his bed to sleep.


	3. Nightmare

“JACK!”  
“We’re gonna play a game”  
Crack.  
“One”  
“I’m scared.”  
“Two”  
Crack..  
“Would I trick you?”  
“Come on.”  
Crack.  
Crack.  
CRACK.  
XXX  
Jack jolted awake with a shout. He knew he had a nightmare, but he had no clue what it was about. At that moment, all he knew was that he was afraid. Suddenly, Jack heard the door of his room creak open. He flinched back, got tangled in his blanket, and fell to the floor.  
“Jack?” Ms. Lilly called out.   
The woman helped him untangle himself.  
“Are you alright?” she asked.  
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Jack replied in his fake bubbly tone. “The blankets sure are aggressive this year.”  
Ms. Lilly ruffled the boy’s hair.  
“It’s two in the morning. Why don’t you go back to bed?” she suggested.  
Jack did as he was told, and the woman left to return to her own bed. Jack attempted to go back to sleep, but just as he was about to drift off, he remembered Pitch’s words.  
“I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”  
Jack sat up in his bed. He had forgotten about the bully’s thinly veiled threat. With an exasperated sigh, he got up and turned on his bedroom light. He then quietly opened the drawer of his dresser and took out his first aid kit.  
“I bet I’ll need this tomorrow,” Jack grumbled to himself.  
He then slid the small box into his backpack. Satisfied that he would at least be able to treat the injuries he was sure to receive n a few hours, Jack flopped back onto his bed without turning the light back off. When he awoke a few hours later, he immediately jumped out of bed and got ready for school in record time. He dashed out of the orphanage and ran all the way to school. As he was about to enter the building, he hoped that he could get to his classroom before Pitch could do anything. This hope, however, was quickly dashed when he felt a strong hand grab his shoulder. Before Jack could react, he was knocked onto the ground.   
“Hello, Jack,” Pitch sneered.  
Pitch then grabbed jack by his hoodie and forced him back up.  
“Can’t you even stand up straight?” the bully growled as he threw Jack against the wall. “Let’s get something straight, Jack. No one notices you because you. Are. NOTHING.”  
Pitch hissed the final word. Jack felt tears building in his eyes. After a punch to the face and a sneer, Pitch slithered away. Jack slid down the wall until he sat on the floor, holding back his tears. Soon afterward, more students began filing into the building. Of course, no one noticed him, and no one tried to help him or even ask if he was okay. He continued to sit there against the wall until the other students were in class and the bell rang. He slowly rose to his feet and started walking toward his first class. After taking a few steps, however, Jack turned around. Then, he ran out of the school as fast as he could. He kept running until he reached the frozen lake. He stepped to the edge and sat down in the snow.   
“He’s right,” Jack whispered to himself.  
This was when Jack’s tears began to fall. He stayed there the entire day. Even when it began to snow and the sun went down, he continued to sit there. The only reason he got up to go home was because he remembered that Ms. Lilly and the other orphans would wonder where he was. So, he slowly made his way home. When he opened the front door, he was immediately faced by Ms. Lilly.  
“Jack! Where in the world have you been?!” exclaimed the woman.  
Jack shrugged, still too upset to talk to the woman.  
“Jack, it’s been snowing for hours, you’re soaking wet, the school called to tell me you haven’t gone to class at all today, and it’s pitch black outside!” Ms. Lilly told him.  
Jack laughed darkly at her choice of words. Pitch. Black. He was the reason for everything she mentioned.  
“Jack, this isn’t funny! I was about to call the police! You could have been hurt, or kidnapped, or lying dead on the ground somewhere!” the woman yelled.  
When Jack laughed again, it sounded completely hollow. As his disturbing laughter continued, Ms. Lilly’s eyes widened.  
“Jack?” she said cautiously, deeply worried by his odd behavior. “Are you okay?”  
Jack ignored her. Once his laughter stopped, he quickly went past her and into his room. Once he locked the door behind him, he opened his window to let in the cold air. For a few minutes, Ms. Lilly tried to talk to him, but she quickly gave up. When he was sure the woman was going to leave him alone, Jack went over to the loose floorboard. He silently pulled it up and removed the knife he knew so well.   
As he slashed at his skin that night, all he could think about was how much he wished Ms. Lilly had been correct with her worry of him being dead.


	4. Punishment

The next day, Jack woke up early in an attempt to avoid talking to Ms. Lilly for at least the time being. Therefore, he arrived to class early… Only to be sent to the principal’s office for skipping school the previous day. As he sat in the main office awaiting the principal, all he could think about was how much he’d rather be sitting next to the lake, surrounded by snow. He began to imagine just lying down on the lake as snow slowly buried him. His daydream, however, was cut short when the secretary told him to enter the principal’s office.  
“Hello, Jack,” said the principal, Mr. Moon. “Please take a seat.”  
Jack did so, slumping into the only available chair.  
“So you’re here because of tardiness and skipping class, correct?” Mr. Moon questioned.  
Jack stayed silent, knowing that the principal didn’t need his confirmation.  
“Why did you skip class yesterday? According to your guardian, you weren’t sick,” said the principal.  
Jack shrugged.  
“You know, Jack, this school does have security cameras,” the principal informed.  
He smiled reassuringly when Jack’s eyes widened at hearing the information.  
“I’ve already looked at some of the footage. I’m going to call Pitch in here later,” Mr. Moon explained.  
When Jack continued to stay silent, now looking at the ground, he decided to continue.  
“Well, I can’t ignore that you were breaking the rules, but I don’t think you should get detention,” he said. “So, I have a proposal: The Art Club is short on members, and I’ve seen you with a sketchbook a few times. So, if you join the Art Club, you won’t get any detentions. Do we have a deal?”  
Somewhat confused at the odd ‘punishment,’ Jack nodded.  
“Good. Meetings are right after school in the art room,” Mr. Moon told him. “You’ll need to fill out this form…”  
XXX  
After filling out the form, Jack went back to class and his day proceeded as it always did. As promised, he headed to the art room at the end of the day, and was somewhat surprised that the principal was inside, apparently telling the current members about their new recruit. Through the door, Jack could hear Aster’s denial.  
“No way! ‘E’ll prob’ly get paint everywhere just ta make a mess!” he complained.  
Jack slowly opened the door, forcing his typical grin onto his face.  
“Don’t give me ideas, kangaroo,” Jack warned jokingly.  
“Sorry, Aster, but students can’t be barred from joining clubs, and he’s joining as his punishment, so he’s staying,” the principal said before leaving.  
“’Ow the ‘ell is joinin a club a punishment?” Aster muttered under his breath.  
While Aster moodily went over to a canvas and continued working on it, Toothiana sped over to Jack.  
“Well, thanks for joining us, Jack! We really needed another member, or the club would be terminated! You’d really think that more people would join an art club, but maybe there just aren’t that many artists in this school. Or maybe there are, but they don’t want to join a club. Or maybe they can’t. Or maybe they’re in a different club. Anyway, it’s good to have a new member!” she chirped quickly. “You remember our names, right?”  
Jack nodded, somehow keeping his smile from falling.   
“That’s good! Well, just start working on an art project! We typically do a little art show at the end of the year, so you can start working on something for that or just do whatever,” she said.  
With another nod, Jack went over to a table and sat down before pulling out his sketch book.  
“See, Aster, he has a sketch book!” Toothiana pointed out.  
Aster simply grunted in reply before continuing his work.   
Jack opened the book and took out a pencil. He thought for a moment before deciding to just doodle for a while. As his pencil scribbled across the page, he began to space out, thinking of random things to distract himself from thinking about the conversation he was sure to have with Ms. Lilly.  
After a while, he was quickly snapped out of his musings by Toothiana’s cheery voice.  
“That’s really good Jack!” she told him. “Is she your little sister?”  
Jack looked down at his paper. To his surprise, his doodle had turned into a detailed image of a young girl, who looked quite a bit like Jack. He stared at the image, not recognizing the girl at all.  
“Jack? Is she your sister or something?” Toothiana repeated.  
Jack quickly shut the sketchbook.  
“I don’t know?” he finally replied.  
“Okay…,” Toothiana said, clearly confused, but choosing to no longer press the issue.  
Soon afterward, it was time for the club to end, so Jack hurried to the lake. He collapsed onto the bank and reopened his sketch book.  
“Sister…,” Jack muttered aloud.  
Could he really have a sister? If so, did she remember him? Would he ever see her again?  
“What’s wrong with me?” Jack questioned. “It’s just a drawing. I was doodling, so it could have just been my screwy brain drawing me as a girl.”  
The attempt to convince himself that it was just a drawing failed. He still felt like the drawing was important, just like he felt the lake was important. And yet, he had no clue what either had to do with his previous life, if they had anything to do with him at all.  
Jack put away his sketch book before gathering a ball of snow into his bare hands. He formed into a hard ball of ice and threw it at a nearby tree. Until evening, he continued throwing snowballs at the trees, yearning for answers, but distracting himself because he knew he couldn’t have them.  
XXX  
By the time he forced himself to go home, his clothing was once again soaked. However, Ms. Lilly was busy with dinner when he entered the orphanage, allowing him to sneak into his room. He shut and locked the door behind him and pulled his window open. He flopped onto his bed, feeling the winds cold bite on his skin.


	5. Off

Jack was woken by Ms. Lilly, whose face was tight with worry.  
“Jack…,” she trailed off.  
“What?” he questioned.  
The woman collected her thoughts before she spoke.  
“Jack… I think we need to talk…,” Ms. Lilly told him. “Your principal called… He told me that you were being bullied…”  
Jack looked away.  
“Are you doing alright?” she asked. “Jack… I’m afraid that you’re going to give yourself hyperthermia… And you’ve been acting off lately…”  
“I’m fine. I just like being cold,” Jack replied.  
“Jack, you went to bed in soaking wet clothes with the window open. It’s ten degrees outside,” Ms. Lilly continued.  
“So?” Jack said defensively.  
Ms. Lilly sighed.  
“I made you an appointment with a therapist,” she told him.  
“I don’t want to go to a shrink!” Jack replied irritably.  
“Jack, please, at least humor me,” the woman said in a pleading tone.  
“I’m not crazy!” Jack said back.  
“I’m not saying you’re crazy, Jack. The therapist is someone you can talk to without being judged. I think it would be good for you,” Ms. Lilly explained.  
The pair went silent for a minute before Jack spoke again.  
“…Fine,” he said dejectedly.  
“Okay,” said Ms. Lilly, relieved. “Change into some dry clothes and come downstairs to eat.”  
XXX  
Jack trudged into the art room. It was a Friday, so he should have been happy to have the next two days of no school. However, he had to go the therapist the next afternoon, which quite obviously annoyed him.   
“What, did yer prank go wrong, snowflake?” Aster said when he saw the look on Jack’s face.  
Jack didn’t respond, instead deciding to sit at a table and start drawing silently.  
Aster just shrugged and went back to what he was doing. Toothiana and North, however, were far more persistent in their inquiries of Jack’s mood.  
“What’s wrong, Jack? Did something happen? You aren’t sick, are you?” Toothiana asked.  
“Is weird when you don’t have your grin,” North added.  
Jack forced a wide, but sarcastic, grin onto his face.  
“Happy? I’m grinning,” he huffed.  
“Jack, if something is bothering you, you can tell us,” Toothiana said.  
Jack sighed.  
“I failed a test. That’s it,” Jack lied.  
“What else is new?” Aster scoffed.  
“No asked you, kangaroo,” Jack spat.  
“I told ya ta stop callin’ me that!” Aster yelled.  
“Oh, right, I forgot. The kangaroo’s the king, so I have to do whatever he says,” Jack said sarcastically.  
“Would ya stop bein’ so goddamn immature!” lectured Aster.  
Jack stuck his tongue out at the fellow student.  
“Yeah, ya sure proved me wrong. Ya know what that does? Nothin’!” Aster growled. “Ya never do nothin’ ‘cept make trouble fer everyone else! Learn ta act yer own age!”  
Jack’s eyes narrowed.  
“Yeah? Well that would be a lot fucking easier if I actually knew my fucking age! Stop acting all superior! Last time I checked, you’re not the boss of me!” Jack ranted.  
Jack stood up and stuffed his things into his backpack.  
“Jack, wai-“ Toothiana was cut off by Jack.  
“Piss off!” he yelled as he left the room.  
XXX  
Once Jack left the art room, all his anger left him and was replaced by sadness. Holding back tears, he ran to the bathroom. He entered a stall and rummaged through his backpack until he found a small thumbtack. After rolling up the sleeves of his blue hoodie, he brought the point to his scarred flesh. Allowing his tears to fall, he slashed it across his skin.   
“Fuck…,” he cursed.  
After a few more slashes, he grabbed some toilet paper and held it to his wounds. After most of the blood had stopped, he exited the stall with the intent of washing the cuts before he bandaged them. However, he froze at what he saw in front of the stall door.  
Sandy stood there, looking sad and worried. The shorter boy’s eyes widened at the sight of the cuts. He grabbed Jack’s arms and dragged him over to the sink while Jack was still shocked. As Sandy tried to dry the wounds, Jack snapped out of it.  
“You can’t tell anyone, alright?” Jack asked quietly. “Swear you won’t tell anyone.”  
Sandy looked up at Jack. After a moment of hesitation, he nodded. While Jack took out his first aid kit and began to wrap a bandage around his wrist, Sandy began to write in his little notebook.  
“If you ever need to talk, I’ll listen,” he wrote.  
“...Thanks,” Jack said softly, knowing he wouldn’t take him up on his offer. “I think I’m going to just go home… Sorry about all that.”  
Sandy smiled slightly and nodded.


	6. Apology

By Monday, Jack’s mood hadn’t improved at all. Ms. Lilly hadn’t let him go to the lake at all in fear of him freezing, and the appointment with the therapist hadn’t helped him at all. To make matters worse, Ms. Lilly had insisted on him going back every week.  
As he walked to his last class of the day, someone bumped into him hard enough to knock his books to the floor. When he looked up, he saw Pitch grinning evilly at him, proving it wasn’t someone who couldn’t notice him. With a sigh, he tried to pick up his books, but they kept getting kicked around and stepped on by the other students. By the time he had gathered his things, two of his folders were ripped, allowing sheets of paper to fall out, one of his notebooks was covered in dirt, and the binding of one of his textbooks had broken a little.  
He then rushed to class and barely made it on time, but managed to get the teacher to notice him enough to mark him present.  
XXX  
Once class had ended, he slowly walked to the art room, as had now become a part of his schedule. He lingered briefly in the hallway before he forced himself to open the door and walk inside. The other members turned toward him, but before they could say anything, he spoke.  
“I’m sorry about what happened on Friday. My parents have been bugging me about my grades a lot lately, so I was upset when I failed my test. I’m sorry,” Jack apologized, with the only truthful part being the apology itself.  
“It’s okay!” said Toothiana cheerfully.  
Sandy looked somewhat relieved.  
“Everyone has bad day,” North replied with a shrug.  
“Apology accepted, snowflake,” Aster accepted. “Sorry fer pickin’ the fight in the first place.”  
With that, Jack sat down at his usual table to draw until Toothiana sat down next to him.  
“Um, Jack, can we talk for a minute?” she asked.  
Jack put down his pencil and turned to the girl, already feeling a small amount of dread.  
“It’s just… It’s been bothering me all weekend…,” she started. “You said that it would be easier to act your age if you knew it… um…”  
Jack quickly turned away.  
“It doesn’t matter. It’s just something stupid I said when I was angry,” Jack answered.  
“…Okay then,” Toothiana replied.


	7. Invitation

Jack sighed. Ms. Lilly had told him to come straight home after school, but he, of course, didn’t want to. He hadn’t been able to go to the lake in days due to Ms. Lilly’s worries. Making his decision, he changed course and headed into the woods. He soon reached the lake and sat in the snow, like always. He let the freezing snow clear his mind and keep his worst thoughts at bay. However, after only a few minutes, his silence was disrupted.  
“Jack,” said Ms. Lilly. “Come on, we’re going home.”  
Jack turned away from the woman.  
“I don’t want to,” he huffed.  
“Jack, there’s supposed to be a snowstorm this evening,” Ms. Lilly retorted. “We’re going home before the snow hits.”  
“I don’t want to,” Jack repeated, somewhat angrier.  
“Jack, can you please stop being difficult? The others are going to be home from school soon, and I have to be at the orphanage to watch them,” Ms. Lilly explained.  
“So just go back and leave me alone,” Jack said. “I’ll go back soon. I haven’t been able to come here for a while.”  
Ms. Lilly looked at the boy, worried.   
“Alright. Make sure to be home in an hour, do you understand? And if it starts snowing, come home immediately,” she gave in. “I’ll start bringing you to and from everywhere if you keep ignoring what I tell you to do, Jack.”  
“Okay, okay. I’ll make sure I’m home,” Jack promised.  
XXX  
Not even half an hour later, snow started to fall and Jack groaned exasperatedly. With annoyance, he forced himself up and trudged home. When he walked in the door, he saw Ms. Lilly smile in relief, but Jack still wished to be sitting by the lake. Before she could stop him, he went into his room to open the window and feel the cold once more.  
XXX  
As the days passed, Jack’s days started to blur together. Every day was the same: school, bullying, being invisible, art club, being stopped from going to the lake, taking out his knife, opening the window, and sleeping. Before he even knew it, it was almost Christmas. Jack didn’t particularly care for the holiday, thus allowing it to slip his mind. However, as he soon found out, North wasn’t going to let that happen.  
“Ah, Christmas! Best holiday!” he exclaimed as Jack was about to enter the art room.  
When Jack walked in, North immediately went over to him.  
“Ah, Jack, good! You’re coming to Christmas party, yes? Is on the 23rd,” he asked. “Art club Christmas party is the best!”  
“Do I have to? I’d really rather not,” Jack replied.  
“Nonsense!” North yelled.  
“Lay off it, North. Some people don’t celebrate Christmas,” Aster cut in. “’Sides, Easter’s the best holiday.”  
This, of course, started an argument between the two, allowing Jack to go to his table.  
“Are you sure you don’t want to come, Jack? It’s really fun, even if you don’t celebrate Christmas. We play games and eat snacks and even make ornaments sometimes. Oh, yeah, it’s at North’s house, so it’s always really pretty too! His family spends like tons of time decorating every year!” Toothiana babbled.  
“Nah, I’m busy,” Jack lied. “And I don’t really get the whole Christmas thing anyway.”  
“Alright,” said the girl. “Sometime we should have a regular party. We do that sometimes. They’re always so much fun too!”  
With that, Toothiana got out some paints and a canvas. As she painted, Jack doodled in his sketchbook. To his relief, he didn’t end up drawing the little girl again.  
Once the club was over, Jack started to walk to the orphanage. As he left the building, he saw Pitch smirk at him before slinking away.


	8. Kidnapped

Jack limped into his first class on the 23rd, the last day of school before the start of winter break. As he had suspected, Pitch had intercepted him on the way and kicked him a few times before letting him go. Although he had arrived on time, he didn’t even try telling the teacher that he was there. To his surprise, however, Aster spoke.  
“Jack’s right ‘ere!” he told the teacher.  
XXX  
To Jack’s even greater surprise, once school ended and he had left the building, he was grabbed from behind by a pair of large arms. Immediately, he was dragged into a bright red car covered in an almost obnoxious amount of Christmas decorations. He struggled, but was unable to escape. Once inside the vehicle, he quickly realized just who had grabbed him. North, Aster, Toothiana, and Sandy were seated within it as well.  
“WHAT THE FUCK?!” Jack yelled angrily.  
“I bring you to Christmas party!” North announced.  
“I TOLD YOU I DIDN’T WANT TO GO!” shouted Jack.  
“Told ya,” Aster said.  
“Come on, Jack! Come have some fun,” North encouraged.  
“You can’t just kidnap me and make me go to your party!” Jack argued.   
“Please, Jack? You’re part of club too,” North said back.  
“I’m not allowed to just go somewhere without telling my parents!” Jack argued in the hope that North would accept the excuse.  
“You can call on phone!” North replied as he handed Jack his cell phone, not understanding what Jack meant.  
At this point, Jack realized that North wasn’t going to give up. So, he reluctantly took the phone and dialed the number of the orphanage.  
“HI! Who is this?” a young girl’s voice answered.  
“Fiona, it’s Jack. Can you go get Ms. Lilly?” Jack said begrudgingly.  
“Okie dokie,” she said. “Ms. Lilly! Jack’s on the phone!”  
After a quick shuffling sound, Ms. Lilly got on the phone.  
“Jack? Is something wrong? Are you okay?” she asked.  
“The people from the art club want me to go to a Christmas party,” Jack explained.  
“Oh! When does it end?” Ms. Lilly questioned, her tone sounding a bit brighter.  
“I’ll ask,” Jack said. “What time does the party end?”  
“Eight,” North replied.  
“Eight,” Jack repeated into the phone.  
“Alright, then. Call me when you need me to pick you up,” Ms. Lilly told him.  
With that, their call ended.  
“I can go,” Jack sighed as he handed the phone back to North.  
“Great!” North cheered. “Here we go!”  
XXX  
Due to North’s reckless driving, the small group arrived at his house in record time. After Aster no longer felt nauseous, they headed inside, with Jack dragging his feet behind them.


	9. Party

Jack was somewhat relieved to find that the party was more or less sitting in North’s living room while eating and playing simple games. He was, however, still dreading being there, since he was worried about the half of the phone conversation the other club members had heard.  
“What game should we play next?” North asked once they finished a game of Crazy Eights.  
“We should totally play Never Have I Ever! We haven’t played that since last year!” Toothiana chirped.  
Sandy nodded enthusiastically.  
With that, the group of five each held up ten fingers.  
“I’ll start!” North announced. “Alright… Never have I ever went a year without watching A Christmas Story.”   
Jack was the only one who put a finger down. North suddenly looked heartbroken.  
“Such a tragedy! Hilarious movie! A true classic!” North cried.  
“Alright, North. It’s just a movie,” Aster told him. “I’ll go next. Never have I ever ridden a roller coaster.”  
This time, Jack was the only one who didn’t put a finger down.  
Sandy’s turn was next. He started writing on a piece of paper before holding it up.  
“Never have I ever had a pet dog,” Sandy wrote.  
With that, Toothiana put down a finger.  
“It’s my turn!” Toothiana chattered. “Um… Never… Never have I ever slept outside!”  
Everyone put a finger down.  
“Gotcha guys!” Toothiana cheered.  
Then, it was Jack’s turn. He looked down at the floor for a while to think of one. Finally, he thought of something to say.  
“Never have I ever… been to the ocean?” Jack said.  
When everyone’s finger went down again, Jack grinned.  
“There’s no way in ‘ell ya never went ta the ocean! It’s only twenty minutes away!” Aster argued.  
“Are you calling me a liar, kangaroo?” Jack teased.   
“Whatever,” Aster gave up, not wanting to start anything.  
XXX  
Once they finished playing Never Have I Ever, North decided that they should watch A Christmas Story, since he thought Jack should watch it. By the end of the movie, it was eight o’clock. Not long afterward, Ms. Lilly knocked on the door. North pulled it open, with the others behind him.  
“Hello!” North greeted.  
“Hello, I’m Ms. Lilly. I’m just here to pick up Jack,” Ms. Lilly said. “Thank you for being friends with him.”  
“Ah, yes, I’m North. This is Aster, Sandy, and Toothiana,” North told her.  
At that, Jack quickly said goodbye and pulled Ms. Lilly back to the car. Once he got in, he was immediately met with the curiosity of the three young children at the orphanage.  
“What did you do?” asked Fiona.  
“Why aren’t your clothes wet? Your clothes are always wet when you come home!” said Harriet.  
“Did you go to Narnia?” Todd questioned.  
Jack ignored them, knowing that they would forget about it and move on to something else in a few minutes.  
“So, Jack, did you have fun?” Ms. Lilly asked.  
“… Yeah…,” Jack replied.  
“…That’s good,” Ms. Lilly replied.  
XXX  
When Jack was alone in his room, he couldn’t help but worry about the other art club members finding something out. He had already let too much slip. He couldn’t let them find out anything else.  
XXX  
“Jack, be careful out there.”  
“One.”  
“Watch your sister, alright?”  
“Two.”  
“Jack!”  
“Three!”  
“JACK!”  
CRACK.  
“SARAH!!!”


	10. Motionless

Jack woke up early to the sound of children chattering excitedly on Christmas morning. Seeing as he really didn’t particularly care about the holiday, he tried to go back to sleep. After half an hour of staring at the ceiling, however, he gave up and chose to get dressed. Once his typical outfit had been hastily put on, Jack pulled his bedroom window open. He played with the snow lying on his window sill until he heard Ms. Lilly’s voice calling for him to go downstairs and eat breakfast. With a sigh, he abandoned the powdery ice crystals and left his room.  
XXX  
By the time it was afternoon, Ms. Lilly said that the three young children could go to a friend’s house and Jack could go to the lake for a while, as long as he wore appropriate clothing and didn’t stay out too long. Jack eagerly got ready and bolted out the door, wanting to get to the lake as soon as possible. As soon as he got there, he removed the majority of his clothing: his coat, scarf, hat, and gloves. Jack pushed his fingers down into the snow and removed a small clump from the ground. He molded it into a miniature snowman and placed it on the edge of the lake’s ice. Leaving the ice creature behind, Jack stepped onto the ice, since he knew it would be thick enough at this time of the year. Then, he did something he had never done before. Once he was in the middle of the frozen lake, he stopped and turned around, simply looking at the bank he had just left. Immediately, all the happiness he felt just moments before vanished. He was suddenly hit with an overwhelming fear.  
Crack.  
Crack.  
CRACK.  
The sound repeated in his mind, again and again, and even though he knew the ice he stood on was safe, he felt as though he had only seconds before being plunged into the lake below. And yet, he felt as if he couldn’t move, frozen by fear.  
So there he stood until Ms. Lilly arrived, three hours later.  
“Jack!” she called. “It’s time to go back now!”  
Jack continued standing in the lake’s center without seeming to have heard her at all.  
“Jack?” the woman repeated. “What are you doing?”  
When Jack still didn’t answer her, and she saw his discarded articles of clothing, her worry grew immensely.  
“Jack!” she yelled, hoping to get some kind of a response from him.  
But Jack didn’t respond, and he didn’t move. He was as motionless as the trees surrounding the lake. Not knowing what else to do, Ms. Lilly carefully stepped onto the ice and made her way to Jack. Once she was beside him, she gripped his shoulder.  
“Jack? Are you alright?” she asked.  
Disturbed by his continued lack of even the smallest reaction, the woman slowly grabbed onto Jack and pulled him off of the lake. Once back on actual ground, she began to put Jack’s clothing back onto him to try to heat him up a little.   
“Jack?” she repeated gently once she was finished.  
This time, Jack reacted.  
He grabbed onto his head and began to sob uncontrollably.  
“It’s okay. It’s okay, Jack,” Ms. Lilly comforted as she pulled him into a hug. “Everything’s okay.”  
XXX  
Eventually, the woman had gotten Jack to calm down enough to walk home with her. She made him sit on the couch with a blanket around his shoulders once they arrived. He didn’t even try to protest.  
“Are you okay? What happened?” Ms. Lilly asked.  
Jack curled up into a ball, with his legs brought up to his chest.  
“…I don’t know…,” he answered before he started crying again.


	11. Bruise

Jack didn’t return to the lake for the rest of winter break. He couldn’t yet when he was still terrified of   
whatever unknown fear that had washed over him. He didn’t want to be afraid of the only place he actually felt calm, but he couldn’t control his fear. Therefore, he decided to stay away for a while until he could get his thoughts sorted out.  
Instead of going to the lake, Jack spent his break alone in his room. He spent his time drawing as there wasn’t much else he felt like doing.   
He drew the girl a lot. He drew her from different angles, different ages, different expressions. After the tenth drawing of the same unknown girl in far too much detail to be a figment of his imagination, Jack knew that she had to be real. He could tell that she was important, but still couldn’t actually remember anything about her other than what she looked like.  
“If you are my sister…,” Jack whispered sadly to himself. “I wonder if I’ll ever remember you. Maybe I’ll remember you one day and we can build a snowman together. And if we have parents, they can help us build more until we have an entire snow family.”  
A tear fell from Jack’s eye. He shook his head roughly.  
“No… I know that’ll never happen,” Jack told himself so he wouldn’t get his hopes up. “I don’t know if you even are my sister. You could be a neighbor or an actress or whoever else. It will never happen.”  
By the end of what he was saying, Jack’s voice began to waver. After giving up on remembering, he had been given brief hints at his old life. And yet, that was it. He still couldn’t actually remember anything substantial, and the fact that he was teased by the whispers made it even more unbearable not to know.  
He looked away from his current drawing and down at the loose floorboard. After hesitating for a moment, he set down the sketchbook and stood up.  
XXX  
As he was about to enter the school on the first day back from break, he heard a yell from behind him.  
“Jack!” Toothiana called. “Hi!”  
The hyperactive girl pulled him into a hug, which he had not been expecting at all. The hug put pressure on his many new wounds, and he let out a yelp of pain.  
“Oh my God, I’m sorry, Jack! I didn’t mean to hurt you! Sometimes I end up hugging people too hard! Are you okay?!” she apologized.   
Jack quickly forced the pain to the back of his mind and let out a huge grin.  
“It’s okay. It didn’t really hurt; I was just surprised,” he replied.  
“Sorry! I forgot that I never asked if I could hug you! It’s just been a while since any of us have seen you since it was winter break, and I got excited,” explained the girl.  
Then, the rest of the group approached, having caught up after Toothiana ran ahead. The group then started a conversation that Jack was apparently included in. The conversation, however, quickly turned into a debate between Aster and North over holidays with Toothiana trying to get them to compromise. While they were distracted, Sandy starting writing in his notebook.  
“Have you been doing okay?” he asked in writing.  
“Yeah,” Jack lied with a smile.  
“You don’t have to pretend, you know,” Sandy continued with a worried expression on his face.  
Jack stayed silent for a second, knowing that Sandy already knew one of his biggest secrets, but still firm in his resolve to keep as much as he could hidden.  
“… It’s nothing important. I’d just rather not talk about it,” he explained.  
Sandy nodded, not wanting to push Jack and make him uncomfortable.  
XXX  
Jack looked into the mirror of the school bathroom. As he had been walking to the art room, Pitch had found him. He luckily got away with only a few bruises since Pitch had a detention and didn’t want to get another one for being late. However, the dilemma that Jack now faced was that one of those bruises was on his cheek. Jack attempted to cover it up with some makeup, but he only succeeded in making it look less severe rather than hide it. So, he left the bathroom and continued on to his destination while coming up with a lie to tell the other club members if they asked.  
When Jack entered the room, Aster was the only one who had arrived yet, and he was too in the zone to even notice that Jack had come in. So, he pulled up his hood and sat down, hoping that no one would notice the bruise.  
This, however, was little more than wishful thinking on his part. As Toothiana walked into the room with Sandy and North, she immediately saw it.  
“Jack, what happened?! Are you okay?!” she asked as she dashed over to him. “Where’d you get this bruise?!”  
Jack looked up at her, a small smile on his face.   
“I fell asleep during class and fell out of my chair,” he explained with a laugh. “The chair landed on my face.”  
“Do you need ice or something?” Toothiana questioned in an attempt to help him.  
“It’s fine,” Jack replied.  
Toothiana, although still clearly worried, accepted his explanation. Sandy looked as though something had just clicked in his head, and Jack internally groaned as he knew that Sandy had probably figured it out. North had accepted his explanation with a worried nod. Aster, however, had stopped painting and was now looking directly at Jack with a strange stare that Jack couldn’t figure out.


	12. Mall

On the Friday of that week during art club, the other members asked Jack if he wanted to hang out with them the next day.  
“When?” he asked, not sure whether he wanted to go or not.  
“One,” North answered.  
Jack internally sighed. Whether he wanted to go or not, that was when Ms. Lilly was going to bring him to the therapist again.  
“Sorry, I can’t,” he replied. “I have something I need to do.”  
“Is bummer,” North sighed.  
With that, everyone returned to their various art projects.  
XXX  
After yet another therapy session that seemed to only make Jack feel worse, Ms. Lilly decided to bring him and the younger children to the mall for ice cream.  
“I want tomato flavor!” Todd exclaimed as they neared the small ice cream shop.  
“I don’t think they have that flavor, Todd,” Ms. Lilly informed the child.   
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw,” Todd cried in childhood anguish. “I guess I want strawberry then.”  
“I want chocolate!” Harriet told Ms. Lilly.  
“I want vanilla!” Fiona added.  
“What flavor do you want, Jack?” Ms. Lilly asked.  
“… Mint,” he responded.   
Once everyone had their ice cream, they all went to the indoor fountain to sit down. When Jack was about half way finished with his frozen treat, he saw a familiar group of four start to walk by. However, they saw him as well. Jack felt dread wash over him as they started to walk over to say hello.  
“Hi Jack!” Toothiana greeted bubbly.  
“Hi…,” Jack replied.  
After a brief conversation about how everyone was doing, the art club members noticed Ms. Lilly and the children.  
“Oh! We didn’t mean to interrupt a family outing,” Toothiana said.  
“It’s alright,” Ms. Lilly said. “I’m going to bring the children home soon, but Jack can stay for a while.”  
Ms. Lilly looked at Jack and he nodded.  
Jack followed his fellow club members to an arcade within the mall. Within moments, it was decided that they would have a video game tournament. Jack, having only played video games a few times, knew he was going to lose, although he didn’t really care.  
“That the best ya got, Frostbite?” Aster teased when Jack accidentally knocked the puck into his own goal while playing air hockey.  
“I only have time to practice checkers so I can beat that buffalo,” Jack joked back. “He doesn’t challenge me to anything else.”  
“’Ave ya ever beaten this buffalo?” Aster asked, going along with it.  
“Nope,” Jack answered.  
Although Jack enjoyed laughing and playing with the other club members, he couldn’t help but worry about who they thought Ms. Lilly and the children were.  
XXX  
In the end, Aster was crowned as the unofficial video game king with a piece of yarn Toothiana brought as the crown.  
Once the coronation was over, the group decided to go look at the clothing stores, since the Valentine’s dance was only a month away and Toothiana wanted to plan her outfit ahead of time.  
Thus, Jack had no clue how it somehow turned into Toothiana trying to get Jack to try on clothes since she was curious about what he would look like in something other than his hoodie.  
“Jack, this would look so cute on you!” Toothiana exclaimed as she held up a dark blue tank top with snowflakes on it. “You should totally try it on!”  
Jack might have tried it on just to make the girl happy, but he knew the lack of sleeves would be a problem.  
Jack shook his head.  
Toothiana looked vaguely disappointed, but she went and found a shirt for Sandy to try on, which he did. Unconsciously, Jack pulled at the ends of his sleeves, trying to cover as much of his hands as possible. When he saw Aster looking at him again, he immediately stopped and pretended to be paying attention to the various outfits Toothiana picked out for Sandy to try.


	13. Nothing

On Monday, Jack felt himself grabbed roughly on his way to lunch. The other students ignored him as Pitch dragged him into the nearby bathroom.   
“It’s been a while, hasn’t it Jack?” Pitch greeted darkly as he pushed Jack against the wall. “So, tell me, how was your break?”  
As he said the last word, Pitch rammed his knee into Jack’s stomach. Pain exploded from the area, but he couldn’t cry out since Pitch had covered his mouth before he could.  
“So, what? You think those art club members are your friends now?” Pitch asked as he pulled Jack’s hair roughly. “Well, where are they, Jack? They aren’t going to save you.”  
Pitch pushed Jack onto the floor and leered down at him.  
“Do they even know a thing about you, Jack? Do they know about this? Do they know about the orphanage? Do they know that you don’t even know who you are?” Pitch asked menacingly. “Do they know just how messed up you are?”  
Pitch squeezed Jack’s wrist tightly as he asked the last question.  
“So, tell me, Jack. Are they really your friends when they know nothing about you?” Pitch continued.  
A tear rolled down Jack’s cheek.  
“You have no clue what they know!” Jack retorted, although he knew that most of the art club members didn’t know any of it.  
“Oh, really? If they knew about this for example, would they let you spend lunch alone, when I have a whole period to do whatever I want to you?” Pitch smirked.  
Jack’s face paled as Pitch took a hunting knife out of his pocket.  
“Don’t look so scared, Jack. We both know you would have done it to yourself as soon as you got home,” Pitch growled.  
XXX  
Jack shakily stood up and tried to wash his arm at the sink. As the red was swept away from the wounds and down the drain, the boy began to cry again. Jack now had a third word carved into his flesh:  
Nothing.  
With trembling hands, Jack dried off his arm and bandaged it. He looked down at the ground and saw a few small puddles of blood. He quickly wiped them up so no one would see them. Jack then sat against the wall, hoping to compose himself in the few minutes before lunch ended.  
And that was when he heard the bathroom door open.  
He ignored it, knowing that people wouldn’t notice him anyway. However, he was surprised when he heard a voice.  
“Frostbite?” Aster questioned. “What’re ya doin’?”   
Jack jumped a little.  
“Of course, it just had to be Aster,” Jack mentally groaned.  
“Jack?” Aster questioned as he kneeled down. “what’s goin’ on?”  
“Leave me alone, kangaroo,” Jack replied, his voice devoid of any humor.  
“Are ya cryin’?” Aster asked incredulously.  
“No,” Jack answered, although his voice made it clear that he was.  
“Look at me, frostbite,” Aster ordered softly.  
“No,” Jack refused.  
“I know something ‘appened, Jack, so look at me, or I’m goin’ ta get a teacher,” Aster told him.  
Jack slowly forced himself to look at Aster, revealing his red and teary eyes.  
“Happy now?” Jack asked, a little bit of annoyance finding its way into his voice.  
“What ‘appened, Jack?” Aster questioned, his voice making it clear he wasn’t going to let it drop.  
“It’s none of your business, kangaroo,” Jack said. “I’m fine.”  
Jack made himself stand up again, but he was still visibly shaking.  
“I can tell ya aren’t,” Aster said as he stood up as well. “Ya know, everyone else knows that somethin’s wrong too. No one bought that story about the chair landing on your face.”  
Jack glared at him.  
“I don’t care what you guys believe! Just leave me alone!” Jack yelled as he tried to exit the bathroom.  
“Hey,” Aster said.  
He lightly grabbed Jack’s wrist. When he heard Jack’s small yelp of pain, however, he quickly let go. Jack rushed out of the bathroom, leaving Aster alone.  
XXX  
Once he was in the hall, he heard the bell ring, so he quickly went to his next class. A few minutes later, Aster entered the classroom as well and sat down. He didn’t try to speak to Jack, but Jack felt his stare on him for the whole class.


	14. Avoidance

Jack didn’t go to the art room after school that day. He knew that he would be confronted by Aster, if not all of the other members. Instead, he ran to the lake. He looked across the shining surface of ice, trying to will away the uneasiness he now felt. He sat down in the snow and let out a shaky sigh. He clenched his fist. He winced as pain shot through his arm.  
“Fuck…,” Jack cursed.  
Thinking about the word now carved into his flesh made him feel sick. It was different than the name across his chest and the lines on his body. Not only was it put there by the person who’s terrorized him for so long, but it… it labels him as what he is, almost solidifying it.  
Jack rolled up his sleeve and glared at the bandage. He unwound it, wishing the word wouldn’t be there, but the red lines still stood out from his pale skin. He opened up his back pack to take out his thumbtack. After he scraped it across his skin for a while, the word was no longer legible, but the snow around him was covered in blood. Jack scooped some of the clean snow into his hand and held it against his wounds to clean them. Once he had rebandaged his wounds and buried the red snow beneath white, his stood up. Although he felt dizzy, he forced himself to rush home.  
XXX  
“Frostbite,” Aster said as he sat down next to Jack in their first class of the day.  
“Hey, kangaroo,” Jack replied in a forced pleasant voice, although he didn’t smile.  
“Ya know, ya can’t avoid us foreva. I know that’s why ya didn’t show up at the art room yesterday,” Aster continued.  
“I just felt sick,” Jack lied.  
“If ya were sick enough ta be cryin’ in the bathroom, then ya prob’ly shouldn’t be in school today,” Aster argued.  
“I never stay sick for long,” Jack explained.  
“So, are ya goin’ ta Art Clud today?” Aster asked.  
“Yeah,” Jack answered to keep up the lie.  
“Fine,” Aster said, although his tone made it clear that he would bring it up again later.  
XXX  
That afternoon, Jack took a different route to the cafeteria, and, luckily, avoided Pitch.   
However, he felt an unexpected tap on the shoulder just as he was about to sit down. When he turned around, he saw Toothiana behind him, and she invited him to sit with the other art club members. He did so, and he even participated in the conversation, but he couldn’t look Aster or Sandy in the eyes.


	15. Revelation

“Do you think he’s okay?” Toothiana asked worriedly once Aster started telling the other art club members what happened in their last class before the end of the day.  
“No. There’s clearly somethin’ wrong with ‘im, but he definitely doesn’t want ta tell us ‘bout it,” Aster replied.   
“Do you think something’s wrong at home?” Toothiana suggested. “I mean, we’ve seen his mom a few times, but we’ve never seen his dad, so…”  
“Could be bully,” North added.  
Aster thought for a moment before he noticed that Sandy was staring sadly at the floor, looking somewhat conflicted.  
“Sandy, do ya know somethin’?” Aster asked.  
Sandy jumped slightly and then looked up at his friends. He bit his lip, clearly debating with himself before nodding. Sandy started scribbling in his notebook.  
“He made me promise not to tell anyone…,” he wrote.  
“Is it something bad?” Toothiana questioned softly.  
Sandy nodded.  
“Sandy, whatever it is, we want ta help ‘im. If we don’t know the problem, we can’t fix it,” Aster told him.  
With a sad sigh, Sandy started writing in his notebook again.  
XXX  
When Jack entered the art room, he immediately felt that something was off. Everyone looked at him sadly. Jack tensed, knowing that the club members must have found something out.  
“What’s up with the long faces, guys?” he asked, the nervousness in his voice clear, despite trying to hide it.  
“Jack, why the ‘ell would you do something like this to yourself?” Aster asked wearily.  
“Do what?” Jack asked, feigning ignorance.  
“Sandy already told us you’re cutting yourself, Jack…,” Toothiana informed, clearly trying to stop herself from crying.  
Jack’s eyes widened, and he subconsciously started pulling down his sleeves as he took a step back.  
“Jack…,” Aster called out when he saw Jack stepping back. “We just want ta help ya.”  
“It’s none of your business…,” Jack replied quietly.  
“Jack, we’re your friends…,” Toothiana said.   
Jack took another step back.  
Aster stood up and tried to walk toward Jack. However, as soon as he did, Jack bolted out of the room.  
“Shit,” Aster cursed before running after him, with the others following close behind.  
XXX  
Jack had been running as fast as he could, but he eventually slowed down as exhaustion took over. This allowed Aster to grab him by the shoulder.  
“What the ‘ell did ya run for, Frostbite?” Aster asked, breathing heavily himself as the others caught up.  
“Leave me alone!” Jack shouted. “I already told you it’s none of your business!”  
Jack tried to struggle out of Aster’s grip, but Aster didn’t let him.  
“It IS our business, Jack! We’re your friends, and we don’t want ya to kill yourself!” Aster shouted back.  
“I’m not going to!” Jack yelled. “Fuck you!”  
Then, Toothiana appeared by Jack’s side.  
“Jack, please calm down… We have to talk about this,” she said sadly.  
“I don’t want to!” Jack replied exasperatedly.  
He turned toward the girl, but froze when he saw tears in her eyes.  
“Look, I already have to go to a shrink, and they already want me to start taking medicine. Talking about it isn’t going to do anything,” Jack told her in a defeated tone.  
“Jack, why would you even do something like this?” the girl asked.  
Jack sighed.  
“It’s a lot of things I don’t want to get into,” Jack final answered quietly. “Please, just drop it.”  
Jack started walking away, and the art club members let him leave. With heavy hearts, they slowly walked back to the school.


	16. Sick

Jack quietly entered the orphanage before running to his room and locking the door. He sunk to the floor. He slowly removed his sweatshirt and the bandages covering his arms and tossed them to the floor. Jack held his arms out in front of him, looking at the red wounds covering them. He noticed that a few of them had reopened and began to bleed again. The blood slowly dripped down his arm. Before the blood could drip to the floor, Jack grabbed the bandages and wrapped his arms again. He slammed his fist to the ground  
“What the hell should I do now…?” Jack cried softy to himself.  
XXX  
That night, Jack couldn’t sleep at all. Thoughts of what would happen the next time he saw the art club members again filled his head. When morning came, he couldn’t bring himself to go to school and face them, or even leave his room for that matter. He simply stared at the ceiling until he heard Ms. Lilly’s voice.  
“Jack?” she called through the door. “Are you up? It’s time for school…”  
Jack blinked.  
“I’m not going. I don’t feel good,” Jack replied.  
“Alright… Make sure to rest, okay?” she told him.  
XXX  
“He never showed up ta school,” Aster told the members of the art club.  
“I hope he’s okay…,” Toothiana said, trying not to cry.  
Aster looked to the floor, wanting to comfort his friend, but knowing that anything he could say could be a lie.   
“We should’ve followed ‘im,” Aster said with regret.  
They all sat in their club room silently with heavy hearts.  
XXX  
Jack continued staring at the ceiling for hours until Ms. Lilly returned.  
“Jack? Can you eat something?” she asked through the door.  
“I’m not hungry,” Jack told her.  
“Jack… Please…?” Ms. Lilly tried to convince him.  
With a sigh, Jack forced himself out of bed and unlocked the door. Ms. Lilly stood there with a bowl of soup.  
“How are you feeling?” she asked.  
Jack shrugged.  
“Alright, then… Try to eat it, okay?” the woman told him before leaving him alone.  
Jack relocked his door and placed the bowl on the floor without touching it.  
XXX  
As the days passed without Jack returning to school, the art club members grew increasingly worried, but they didn’t know where Jack lived or how to contact him. So, they could do nothing about it. Ms. Lilly, too, was getting more and more worried as she realized that Jack wasn’t actually sick physically. However, during lunch on the fourth day Jack was absent, Toothiana had an idea.  
“Guys! What if we asked the principal to call his mom to ask if Jack’s okay? He might not, but it’s worth a shot, right?” she told the group.  
The other three quickly agreed, threw away the trash from their lunches, and made their way to the principal’s office. As they entered, the principal looked up from a pile of papers.  
“Ah, it’s the Art Club. What brings you here?” asked Mr. Moon.  
“Jack has not been at school for while, and we are worried,” North explained. “We wondered if you could call his mother to see if he’s alright.”  
Mr. Moon’s face looked slightly confused as North mentioned Jack’s Mother, but the art club members didn’t pick up on it.   
“Alright. I can call her, but you all have to wait outside my office for confidentiality reasons,” the principal told them.   
They eagerly did a they were told, waiting in the hall for a few minutes until they were called back in. The art club members rushed inside as soon as their principal allowed them to.  
“She said that Jack’s sick, but she doesn’t know what’s wrong with him. She said that she’s planning on taking him to the doctor today,” Mr. Moon told them. “Hopefully, he’ll be back by next week.”  
The group nodded before leaving the office, somewhat relieved that Jack was supposedly actually sick and his absence wasn’t linked to the last time they saw him. They, however, had no clue that Ms. Lilly hadn’t mentioned her prognosis during the phone call.


	17. Girl

“I’m not taking them,” Jack denied when Ms. Lilly tried to hand pills to him.  
“Jack, the doctor says you need to take them,” Ms. Lilly told him.  
“I’m not crazy! I don’t need them!” Jack argued.  
“Jack, you know that the doctor doesn’t think you’re crazy,” Ms. Lilly retorted.  
Jack pulled on his shoes and ran out the front door, ignoring Ms. Lilly’s calls. He didn’t slow down, even when he made it to school. Rather than risk facing the other art club members where they could question him, he ran as fast as he could to the classroom.  
“Oddly enough, Frost you’re early. Why is it you’re rushing to class on the one day you get here before everyone else?” asked his teacher.  
“I finally beat the buffalo at checkers, and he’s pretty mad,” Jack responded automatically, although his joking tone was clearly absent.  
“Sit down, Frost,” the teacher sighed.  
For once, Jack did as he was told and went his seat. By the time Aster arrived, there were already ten other people in the classroom, thus preventing him from asking anything. And, despite Aster’s attempts to have even a normal conversation, Jack pretended he didn’t hear him until class started.  
XXX  
Reluctantly, Jack went to the art room after school that day. He slowly pushed the door open and was immediately met by the art members looking at him.  
“Jack!” Toothiana exclaimed as she quickly hugged him. “We were so worried about you! After all that stuff happened, you didn’t come to school for so long, and we thought something happened and then we found out you were sick!”  
“I’m fine. I just had the flu,” Jack lied.  
Eventually, Toothiana released Jack from the hug, and he sat down. Unlike the other meetings, however, the other club members sat around his table as well rather than in their typical work areas. Jack noticed this, but he didn’t say anything because he knew that they would start talking about what happened again.   
So, they all took out sketch books and drew together silently. Once again, Jack found himself drawing the unknown girl. At first, they were pictures of the girl climbing trees, sitting in a field, and so on. But when he finished doodling on the last page of his sketchbook, he quickly slammed the book shut, making the other club members look at him.  
“Sorry… I, uh, forgot that I have to do something. I gotta go,” Jack said suddenly before dashing out of the room, leaving the sketchbook behind.  
Aster got up to follow him. Confused, Toothiana, North, and Sandy looked to the forgotten book. Slowly, Toothiana flipped the book open to the last page.  
They were met with the image of a young girl falling between the broken ice in a frozen lake with a look of pure terror on her face.


	18. Panic

“Jack!” Aster called out to him as he chased the boy down the hall.   
Aster didn’t think he would slow down for a while considering the last time he had to chase his friend, so he was surprised when Jack stopped almost immediately after hearing him. Jack slowly turned toward Aster with a dull, wide-eyed expression.  
“Jack? What’s wrong?” Aster asked cautiously.  
Jack shook his head back and forth as he brought his hands up to grip his hair. Aster stepped closer once Jack had lowered himself to the floor and curled in on himself.  
“Jack?” Aster repeated in hopes of eliciting a response.  
Jack continued to shake his head, but he started to mumble frantically.  
“Nononononononononononononononononononononononononono…,” he babbled. “Sarah… Nonononononononononononono…”  
Aster was taken aback by the childish tone of Jack’s voice and his distressing behavior. He lightly touched Jack on the shoulder to catch his attention, but Jack’s muttering only grew louder and his movements more frantic. The boy started to breathe heavily and rapidly.  
“Jack?!” Aster shouted, louder than before, as he himself started to panic a bit.  
“Aster, what’s going on?” he heard Toothiana ask as the remaining club members left the art room and approached them in the hall.  
“I don’t know. When I called out to ‘im, ‘e started freakin’ out,” Aster explained quietly.  
The four teenagers tried to help their friends, but anything they did only worsened the situation. So, at a loss, they waited until Jack slowly calmed down. It seemed like it took hours for him to do so, but in reality, it was only about ten minutes. Once Jack managed to pull himself back together, he warily looked up at his friends.  
“Jack? Are you alright?” Toothiana questioned gently.  
After a defeated sigh, Jack hesitantly shook his head negatively. North held out his hand to Jack to help him up, and Jack took it. Not knowing what else to do, they led Jack back to the art room and had him sit down in a chair. They pulled up chairs next to him, but no one said anything for a while. The first person to do anything was sandy.  
“What happened?” he asked in writing.  
Jack pinched the bridge of his nose before he replied.  
“I… don’t know…,” he said finally. “That’s never happened before… It’s just… when I realized what I drew…”  
Jack trailed off before he finished.  
“Who is she, Jack?” Toothiana asked. “You keep drawing her, and now one of the drawings caused this…”  
“I don’t know… I have no clue who she is…,” Jack replied, clearly frustrated. “I… I don’t even know who I am…”  
As soon as he said it, he realized his mistake. He had just revealed another one of his greatest secrets other than the fact that he cut himself. Unluckily for Jack, all four of his friends heard what he had said.  
“Jack… What do ya mean?” Aster questioned.  
Jack stared down at the floor for a long time before he decided that, after letting that slip along with everything else, he might as well give his friends an explanation.  
“I… I have amnesia…,” Jack said finally.   
“What?!” his friends all exclaimed in shock.  
“A… A few years ago… I was found by the lake in the forest… and I have no memories from before then…,” Jack continued. “When… I woke up, the name Jack Frost was… carved into my chest, backwards… so… that became my name…”  
At this point, tears started to fall from Jack’s eyes.  
“And because no one knew who my parents were, they sent me to the orphanage…,” Jack told them after he took a deep breath in. “People… never really noticed me much for a while… except for a bully… and everything started to get really bad so I started to cut myself because I didn’t know what else to do and I think I’m starting to remember things but I’m not sure and it seems like whatever I forgot is really bad and I just… I just… I just don’t know what to do anymore!”  
By the time Jack had finished his explanation, he was talking rapidly and almost at the point of hyperventilating again. Then, all of the art club members started hugging him, starting with Toothiana.  
“It’s going to be okay, Jack. It’s going to be okay…,” the girl comforted him.


	19. Friendship

Jack allowed his friends to continue hugging him for a long time, welcoming the warmth for once. He was sobbing, getting tears all over Toothiana’s shirt, but no one said anything about it. Once Jack’s sobs had turned to sniffles, they decided that it would probably be best for them to bring Jack home. However, once they had started to walk in the direction of the orphanage, Jack spoke up.  
“Um… Guys, I’d rather not go home right now… Ms. Lilly will probably get worried if she sees I was crying…,” he told them.   
Aster turned toward him.  
“Then, where do ya wanna go, mate?” Aster asked.  
Jack looked down toward his feet.  
“I kind of want to go the lake…,” Jack mumbled.  
“Are you sure, Jack?” Toothiana questioned softly.  
Jack nodded.  
“Then lead the way,” North said, lowering his normally booming voice to a normal volume.  
Hesitantly, Jack started walking, with the club members trailing behind him. He led them into the forest and down the trail that eventually brought them to the shining lake. He stared out as its flat surface before sitting down and starting to build a tiny castle. Without speaking, his friends joined him, and they all began to add rooms to the cold structure. By the time they had finished, over an hour had passed, and their hands were freezing. However, they didn’t really care because the activity had seemed to truly comfort Jack.  
“I guess I should actually go home now…,” Jack said finally.  
They all nodded before standing up and making their way out of the frozen forest. When they had arrived at the orphanage, Ms. Lilly was standing outside, waiting for Jack.  
“Jack!” she called out.  
The woman then noticed the four other people standing behind him.  
“Oh! You all look freezing! Come inside and warm up,” she told them.  
Not having any reasons to refuse, they all entered the building, where they were met by the sight of three children building a castle out of wooden blocks, much like they had been doing in the snow earlier. The small boy looked up at the teenagers.  
“Hi!” he greeted cheerily. “Jack, did you guys do fun stuff? Did you?”   
A small smile made its way onto Jack’s face.  
“Yeah,” he replied.  
With that, Todd stood up and walked over to them.  
“I found the portal to Narnia today! I ate cookies with the lion and battled witches and climbed mountains and tons of other stuff!” he announced proudly.  
Jack ruffled the child’s hair, and the boy wandered back to his blocks.  
“Um, you guys can sit down or something if you want…,” Jack said as he turned back towards the Art Club members.  
So, they sat on the couches next to the area where the children were playing, talking lightly together, until they had to go home themselves. And once they had left, Jack realized that he now felt better than he had in a very long time.


	20. Beach

Since that day, Jack hadn’t drawn that girl again, and he hadn’t remembered any pieces of his past either. With the lack of distress caused by the flashes of memory gone and his friends supporting him, Jack had started to feel better… At least, that was the case until he and his friends decided to go on a trip to the beach as summer began.  
“We’re almost there, Jack!” Toothiana chirped.  
Jack nodded, a small smile on his face.   
“Yeah,” he agreed.  
Soon after, North pulled the car to a stop, and the group of teenagers got out of the vehicle.  
“Ah, yes! The beach!” North exclaimed jubilantly.  
Sandy was the first to step onto the sand of the beach. He picked up a handful of sand before pouring some onto his shoulders. Once this was done, he quickly scribbled something in his book.  
“I’m Sandy,” he wrote jokingly.  
Jack giggled at his friend’s joke with a wide, genuine smile. However, this smile was quickly replaced by a mischievous one. Jack picked up his own handful of sand and threw some at Aster, being careful not to get any in the other teen’s eyes or mouth.  
“Now the kangaroo is Sandy too,” Jack laughed.  
“So ya want ta start a war, eh frostbite?” Aster asked.  
Within moments, an all-out sand war broke out between the art club members that didn’t end until everyone fell onto the ground laughing.  
“I guess we’re all Sandy now!” Toothiana giggled as she stood and brushed herself off.  
The next thing they decided to do was build a sand castle. As they molded the walls off the crumbly fortress, they all remembered the ice castle they build in the woods together the previous winter, but no one mentioned the event that, although it ended happily, was stained with Jack’s tears.  
“We should find some noblemen to live in the castle!” Toothiana suggested cheerfully.  
So, the group began to look for twigs and the like to create their miniature people from. However, by the time they returned to the sight of their castle, one of the walls had been swept away by the ocean’s waves.  
“Aw, well. I guess we built it too close ta the water,” Aster sighed slightly. “Speakin’ of the ocean, how ‘bout we go fer a swim?”  
No one noticed the look on Jack’s face when Aster suggested that they actually go into the water. Jack, however, said nothing about his apprehension because even he did not fully understand why he would randomly feel discomfort around bodies of water. Furthermore, Jack knew that he couldn’t swim at all either. Yet, he decided that he would just stay in water where he could stand.  
“Yeah!” Toothiana cheered.  
What the club members did notice, however, was that Jack didn’t remove the long-sleeved shirt he wore even when he entered the water. They quickly shook the reason they knew for it out of their minds.  
“Frostbite!” Aster called out.  
Just as Jack turned toward him, Jack was met with a large splash of water.  
“That’s fer startin’ it earlier!” Aster joked.  
Once again, a playful battle broke out between the friends, but the sand was replaced with water. But this battle didn’t end with the friends all laughing together.  
As the fight progressed, the group started to go farther out in the water without Jack noticing.  
This battle ended with Jack being pulled under the water by a wave and being unable to make his way back to the surface.


	21. Funeral

He stood in front of the open coffin, unable to look at the picture sitting inside. They tried to find the body of the girl, but their attempts were fruitless. She was still somewhere beneath the surface of that lake, slowly rotting away until she became little more than a skeleton.  
A man and a woman stood on either side of him. They both held his trembling hands firmly. The woman was outright sobbing. The man was completely silent, but there were just as many tears streaming down his cheeks.  
His own eyes were dry.  
His little sister was gone forever, and it was all his fault, but he couldn’t even bring himself to shed a single tear at her funeral.  
Ever since that day, he had hardly acknowledged the world outside of his own mind. He barely moved. He didn’t speak. He just sat and stared off onto space as he relived the event over and over again.  
The man and the woman were speaking now, but he couldn’t understand them. By the time they were done, the man had joined the woman’s agonizing sobs with his own.   
And still, he didn’t cry.  
A few people led all three of them over to some nearby chairs. He sat down without actually registering that he had done so. More and more people talked and cried.   
Eventually, he felt the woman tug his arm gently to get him to stand. She slowly led him outside to a car. Through the window, he saw a few large men carrying the coffin out the door he had just gone through. They carefully placed it inside of a long, black car. The car pulled onto the road, and their own car followed close behind it. After what could have been an eternity, they went through a black, metal gate. When the car stopped and he was led out of it, he could see the countless rows of tombstones surrounded by perfectly cut, green grass. Before he even knew what was happening, he stood next to a newly-dug grave. He watched, still silently, as the coffin was gently lowered into the earth and slowly covered with dirt.   
That was when he first felt a drop of liquid on his cheek.  
However, there were still no tears dropping down from his eyes. Rather, even the clouds had started crying about the girl’s death before her own brother.   
As the light drizzle turned into an all-out downpour, he looked up enough to read the words engraved on the small tombstone that marked what would be the girl’s final resting place if her body had been found:   
Sarah Frost  
Precious Daughter and Sister  
2003-2011


	22. Forgetting

As the weeks passed, the world become even more blurred than before. He found himself having more and more trouble remembering things. Even when he was forced by his own mind to relive the event that took away his sister, it had less details every time. Eventually, he began to worry that he would forget everything.  
“I can’t forget…”  
He crawled out of bed and silently walked into the kitchen. He didn’t register the electric clock on the stove that declared the time as 2:23 in glowing, red letters. He extended his arm so that he could reach across the counter. Carefully, he unsheathed a large knife from the wooden block it was stored in and stared at it. The moonlight shining through the window made the metal shine and reflect his own face back at him, but he didn’t even recognize himself.   
“I can’t forget…”  
He brought the knife with him as he went into the bathroom. He flicked on the light switch and stood in front of the mirror. He saw his own blue eyes and white hair reflected back to him, matching him perfectly, but he still didn’t recognize himself. He set the knife onto the sink’s counter so he could remove his shirt. Once the piece of cloth had been thrown to the floor, he reclaimed the blade.  
“I can’t forget…”  
Slowly, he turned the knife around in his hands so it was facing toward his own chest rather than his reflection’s. He stared down at the bright metal again for a moment. Then, without any further hesitation, he drove the blade into his skin and made the first horizontal line on his chest. He gasped. It was the first thing he had truly felt since that day. He took a shaky breath in to strengthen his resolve once more. The line was then followed by a scarlet arc. Again and again, he forced the blade to cut into his flesh. Blood flowed freely from each cut and coated the front of him in red.   
“I can’t forget!”  
By the time he was finished, he was breathing heavily due to the pain. His task completed, he once again looked to the mirror. This time, however, he didn’t try to recognize himself. Instead, he focused on the two words he had just carved into himself:  
Jack Frost.  
“Jack… Frost…”  
Then, he looked down at the knife that had somehow dropped to the floor. Just like his chest, it was covered in scarlet blood.  
“I can’t forget!”  
He repeated this, but he didn’t even remember what he wasn’t supposed to forget anymore.  
“I can’t forget!”  
“I can’t forget!”  
“I CAN’T FORGET!!!”  
Finally, for the first time in a long time, he felt a tear fall from his eyes. It was joined by another and another until he was screaming and crying, completely oblivious to everything else.   
“I CAN’T FORGET!!! I CAN’T!!!”  
Suddenly, he vaguely registered a voice coming from the hallway.  
“Jack, are you alright? Jack? OH MY GOD!. Jack, what did you do?! WHAT DID YOU DO?!”  
He felt someone’s arms wrap around him, but he quickly struggled away.  
Before he or anyone else could understand what was going on, he bolted out the door and into the woods.  
XXX  
He didn’t know how long he kept running for, but he knew that days must have passed because the sun kept going up and down. He, however, didn’t bother to keep track of how many times this happened. He just kept running until he became too exhausted to take another step. Then, he would collapse and sleep just long enough so that he could keep running.  
Eventually, he found himself slipping onto hard ice. As he looked up and actually observed his surroundings, he realized that he was lying on a frozen-over lake. He felt like he should remember where he was, but he didn’t have time to think about it as he once again fell into unconsciousness.


	23. Drowning

“Frostbite?” Aster called out when Jack didn’t come back up after a few seconds. “…Jack?”  
Still, no one came to the surface. Immediately, the aura seemed to tense around the group of teenagers.   
“’Ey, this isn’t funny, Jack!” Aster spoke with a slight quiver in his voice.   
Everyone tried to search the water for their friend, but they didn’t see him in the water around them. With fear, they realized that Jack must have been swept away by the ocean’s current. North quickly pulled his goggles over his eyes and dove below the water before swimmer out into deeper waters. The rest of them followed suit, with some searching below the waves and the others above. Finally, North spotted him on a large rock beneath the water. As North grabbed the boy’s arm to bring him to the surface, he noticed that his eyes were shut and his mouth was wide open. Praying he wasn’t too late, he pulled Jack up and out of the water with the others coming up behind him.   
“Jack!” Toothiana yelled in both relief and fear as she saw him.  
With the help of the others, North managed to get Jack back onto dry land. Aster quickly checked his pulse and was relieved to feel a beat beneath his fingers.   
“Jack’s still alive, but ‘e’s gonna need help,” Aster announced.   
“I’ll call an ambulance!” Toothiana said quickly, her voice tense.  
Toothiana then ran over to her bag to pull out her cellphone. Aster, who somewhat knew what he had to do to help his friend, attempted to perform CPR. Eventually, Jack started to cough up water, to the relief of those around him. However, although Jack’s eyes opened when he was done coughing, he didn’t acknowledge or react to anything his friends said or did.   
After fifteen minutes of waiting tensely, they finally heard sirens in the distance. Within moments, paramedics were on the beach. From there, everything moved quickly. It seemed to take only seconds before the paramedics’ questioned were answered and Jack was on his way to the hospital in the back of an ambulance. Then, the remaining art club members piled into North’s car so that they could follow the ambulance to the hospital.  
XXX  
“Um, does anyone know how to contact Ms. Lilly…?” Toothiana asked after they had been sitting in the waiting room for a few minutes. “We have to tell her about this…”  
“Her number is still on my phone from when Jack used it,” North answered, his voice uncharacteristically quiet.  
North searched through his call history until he found the right number before pressing the button to call it. As he heard the ring, he dreaded the conversation he was about to have. Then, he heard someone pick up the phone.  
“Hello?” the voice of Ms. Lilly said from the other end.  
“This is North...,” he started.  
At the long pause, Ms. Lilly grew worried.  
“North? Did something happen?” she questioned.  
“Jack… almost drowned…,” North explained gravely. “He’s alive, but he’s in the hospital.”  
“Oh my God…,” the woman gasped. “What hospital are you at?”  
“St. Luke’s,” North replied.  
“Alright. I’ll be right there,” Ms. Lilly told him before hanging up.  
North sighed sadly as he put his phone away. He really hoped that everything would be okay in the end.


	24. Hospital

As Ms. Lilly rushed into the hospital’s waiting room, she spotted the group of teenagers immediately.  
“Where is he? What happened? Have the doctors said anything?” the woman questioned frantically.  
“Not yet,” Toothiana replied quickly.  
Ms. Lilly went over to the front desk to see if they could tell her anything, but… all they could really do was wait until the doctors figured out what was going on.  
XXX  
“Are we there yet?”   
“Not yet, Jack.”  
“We’ll be at the motel soon.”  
“I can’t wait to play in the snow!”   
The adults laughed.  
“We know, honey.”  
“Will you show me how to skate, Jack?”  
“Of course I will!”  
XXX  
“We’re going to the lake!”  
“Jack, be careful out there.”  
“I will.”  
“Watch your sister, alright?”  
“Alright.”  
XXX  
SPLASH!  
No…  
No…  
NO! NONONONONONONONONONONONO!  
“SARAH!!!!! SARAH!!!!!”  
XXX  
After a while, a doctor had come by and explained that Jack was going to be fine, but his near drowning had scared him quite a bit.   
“Hopefully, he’ll snap out of it soon… although, if he doesn’t we can treat him until he does,” the doctor spoke. “Although, there is something else we have to speak about…”  
With that, the doctor led Ms. Lilly away from the group of teenagers. After the doctor started speaking, the woman broke out into tears, causing them to worry about what had been said. Ms. Lilly and the doctor continued speaking for a while before the woman rejoined them.  
“What’s wrong?” Aster inquired cautiously.  
“Jack-he… Jack’s been cutting himself…,” she cried.  
Hearing this, the art club members froze.  
“You… didn’t know…?” Toothiana questioned. “He said… He said he was getting help, so we thought…”  
Ms. Lilly shook her head.  
“No, I didn’t… but I knew something was wrong, so I had him go to a therapist…,” she answered. “I didn’t know he was this bad…”  
The woman buried her face in her hands, but the teenagers didn’t really know how to comfort her  
XXX  
Once Ms. Lilly had managed to pull herself back together, the doctor came back and said that they were allowed to see jack. Of course, they all headed to the room immediately.  
But, just as they were about to open the door, they heard a heartbreaking scream from inside the room.


	25. Remembering

Hearing the scream, they all rushed into the room. Upon doing so, they saw Jack curled up in a ball with his face buried into his hands.  
“Jack, what’s wrong?!” Ms. Lilly questioned as his scream quieted.  
He looked up at the woman, tears streaming down his face and eyes wide. He shook his head back and forth before he began to sob.  
“She- they- I- Sarah- the ice- drowned…,” Jack spoke unintelligibly through his sobs.  
Ms. Lilly comforted the teen as his friends stood by in silent support.  
XXX  
Eventually, Jack calmed down enough to talk normally.  
“What happened, Jack?” Toothiana questioned gently.   
Jack took a deep breath in before he responded.  
“I… I remember everything. I have my memory back,” he answered.  
The occupants of the room went silent out of shock for a moment. Then, Aster placed one of his hands over one of Jack’s.  
“It’s not good, is it mate?” he spoke.  
Jack shook his head.  
“My… family went on vacation to a lake… The lake I always go to…,” he started. “My sister, Sarah, asked me to show her how to skate, but… we thought the ice was thick enough! But it wasn’t! Sarah and I went onto to ice, and we went out to the middle of the lake… and… the ice started to crack… I tried to get her back onto solid ground, but…”  
Jack paused before continuing.  
“…I failed…,” he whispered. “She… She plunged into the lake, and I couldn’t get her out! She drowned!”  
“Oh, Jack…,” Ms. Lilly mumbled as she rubbed his back.  
“They never found her body…,” Jack continued. “And I don’t know why, but my memory started slipping… I kept telling myself that I couldn’t forget. But… I did. I kept forgetting more and more, so I carved my own name into my chest... And my mom… she walked in, and I ran away! I just kept running and running and eventually I forgot everything! And I ended up back at the lake where she drowned!”  
Heavy silence hung over the group as Jack concluded his story. None of them knew what to say to comfort the boy.   
All they could do was envelope him a large group hug and hope things would end up being okay.


	26. Parents

Physically, Jack healed quickly, although the same couldn’t be said about his mental state. On top of everything he dealt with in the past and the present, he now had to find some way to reconcile his old self and who he was now. The two weren’t entirely different, but they differed enough for him to have some trouble sorting out his thoughts and how he should feel about things. He, however, was unable to spend his time sorting out his thoughts because he was preoccupied with thoughts of his sister. Having lost his memories, Jack had never moved past his sister’s death, and still found himself mourning the loss. Jack wanted to lift up the loose floorboard in his room and relieve himself of the pain, but he knew that, even when he left the hospital, Ms. Lilly would keep a close eye on him.

Despite the boy’s inner turmoil, the days passed on. HIs friends visited him in the hospital, but he didn’t really feel like talking to them. So, they just sat in silence for the most part.

Eventually, Jack was released from the hospital. The crushing pain he felt from his little sister’s death had dulled down a bit, but it still stabbed into his heart every time he thought about her. 

The day after he left the hospital, Ms. Lilly cautiously entered Jack’s bedroom.

“Jack?” she spoke.

Jack looked up from the blank piece of sketch book paper in front of him.

“Jack… We’ve made contact with your parents,” she continued, a thin smile gracing her face.

Jack’s eyes widened.

“They’re going to arrive sometime tomorrow,” the woman told him. “They’re going to take you back home with them. It’ll take a few days to get all the legal stuff worked out, but… “

Ms. Lilly trailed off, but Jack understood what she meant. He was going to move away from the only place he ever knew for so many years. He would have to leave the friends he finally made and everyone at the orphanage. Jack now remembered how far away the lake was from his old home. It took them almost twelve hours to drive to it, so he wouldn’t be able to see them much at all.

“Oh,” was all Jack could say.

“I know it might be a bit difficult to get used to, but you’ll finally get to be with your parents again,” Ms. Lilly told him. 

Jack nodded, but he felt conflicted. Ms. Lilly walked over and sat next to him, wanting to spend some time with Jack before he left.


	27. Goodbye

Jack sat before his friends. He had asked them all to come see them so he could talk to them, but now that they were here, he was at a loss for words.

"Jack? What's wrong?" Toothiana questioned.

"It's okay, Jack," wrote Sandy. "We're here for you."

Jack allowed a thin smile to form on his face. He took a deep breath in before he began to speak.

"Guys… My parents have been found… They're going to take me back home with them in a few days… They're coming tomorrow…," Jack finally told them.

"What?!" everyone gasped.

"You're… leaving…?" Toothiana spoke in disbelief.

Jack nodded.

"Snowflake…," Aster trailed off.

"How far do they live?" North asked apprehensively.

"About 12 hours away…," Jack replied.

Everyone went silent before enveloping Jack in a big group hug.

XXX

Jack sat on the couch tensely, awaiting the arrival of his parents. His friends and the other children of the orphanage loitered around the room. After a while, there was a knock on the door. Ms. Lilly went to answer it and opened the door with a melancholic smile on her face. She was met by a man and a woman, both with hope-filled eyes and wide smiles. Ms. Lilly stepped aside to let them in. The pair's eyes immediately fell upon their child.

"Jack!" they exclaimed.

The couple rushed toward their child and enveloped him in a hug.

Jack flinched, but he quickly relaxed. Now that he had remembered them, he had missed them very much. He returned their hug.

"Oh, my boy…," his father whispered, his voice full of emotion.

"Jack, we've been looking for you for so long…," his mother spoke softly. "Jack, what happened? Why… Why did you run away like that?"

Jack could feel a few tears soak into his shirt.

"I… I was forgetting… I didn't want to forget, and when I did, I freaked out…," Jack replied softly before allowing his own tears to fall. "I'm sorry…"

"Jack…," his father whispered. "We love you so much, Jack. We'll never let you forget that, okay?"

The boy nodded, not wanting to speak.

"Everything's going to be okay," his mother soothed.

XXX

After that, Jack and his parents had to have a long talk. They talked about what happened following Sarah's death and when Jack ran away. His parents filled Jack in on what has been going on in their lives. Jack had another younger sibling, who was being watched by his aunt back home. Jack also told his parents about his life during the time he lived at the orphanage. He told them about Pitch's bullying and how he made friends with the members of the art club. As much as he didn't want to, he had to tell his parents about the cutting. That brought new tears to their eyes, and Jack told them that he didn't feel like he had to do it anymore in an attempt to comfort them, although he was lying.

Finally, they had to discuss the future. Jack's parents were going to bring him home, so he would have to transfer to a new school and get used to a different life. He would have to make new friends, although he would try to visit the art club members as much as he could. Jack would also get to meet his new sibling, and he hoped they would get along.

Jack was nervous about what the future would bring, but he had hope that it would be brighter than the past.

XXX

Jack found himself standing alone at the edge of the lake. Being summer, there was no ice covering the surface of the water. He knelt down and stuck his hand into the water.

"Hi, Sarah… It's me, Jack," he spoke quietly. "I'm sorry I forgot who you were, but I remember now. I really miss you, little sis. I won't ever forget you again. I'm going to go home with mom and dad now. Don't worry, though. I'm going to visit your grave, and I'll come visit the lake as much as I can."

He breathed in deeply.

"Goodbye, Sarah," Jack whispered lovingly. "I love you. Don't ever forget that, okay?"

With that, Jack removed his hand from the water and turned to leave the lake. It was time for the rest of his goodbyes.

XXX

"We're really going to miss you, Jack," Toothiana said as she hugged Jack tightly. "Call us if you ever need or want to talk, okay?"

Jack nodded.

"I'll miss you guys too, Tooth," he replied.

"Good luck, Jack," Sandy wrote.

"Fuuture is bright, Jack!" North exclaimed, his voice happy, but his face clearly showing that he would miss his friend.

"Stay out of trouble, Snowflake. Ya hear me?" Aster said jokingly.

"No promises," Jack laughed. "I'll tell you if I manage to win against that buffalo, okay?"

"You better," said Aster as he ruffled Jack's hair.

"Bye, Jack!" Harriet exclaimed, happy that Jack found his family.

"Yeah! Call us too! We're going to miss you!" added Fiona.

Suddenly, Jack felt something cling to his leg. He looked down and saw it was Todd.

"I'll send you some pictures of Narnia, okay?" the little boy told him.

"Thanks, Todd," Jack answered.

Finally, it was Ms. Lilly's turn to say goodbye.

"Take care of yourself, Jack. You have a lot of people who care about you, and any one of us would be glad to help you out if you need it," the woman spoke. "It will take some getting used to, but I know you'll be able to live happily. Goodbye, Jack."

"Bye," Jack replied.

Soon, it was time for Jack to go. His parents helped him put all of his things in their car. After another round of farewells, he got into the car, ready to begin the drive toward his old/new life.


	28. Home

Jack stood in the middle of the lake. Since it was winter vacation time, he was able to come back for a visit. He looked up at the trees for a while before directing his gaze down to the ice below. Jack slowly sat down on the ice and placed his gloved hand onto its cold surface.

"Hi, Sarah," Jack greeted. "I told you I would come back, didn't I? I still miss you a lot, you know."

He smiled sadly.

"I'm doing a lot better now, though. I've been talking to everyone a lot more about everything, so that's helped. I'm glad that I'm able to visit for a few days. I'm going to go back home in time for Christmas, though," Jack continued.

He glanced at his arms. The thick material of his coat hid his scars from view, but he could envision the lines going across his skin.

"I haven't… cut myself in a while, either. I still want to do it sometimes, mostly when I get really lonely, but I haven't actually done it," Jack breathed out, forcing his smile back on his face. "Oh, yeah! I made a new friend at school! His name's Jamie. He's really fun to hang out with."

Jack removed his glove and returned his hand to the ice.

"I've been getting to know our little brother more, too. Will likes to play in the snow as much as I do. Last week, we build a fort in the back yard and built a snowman army to guard it," Jack laughed. "It was really fun!"

Jack's hand started to feel numb from the cold ice, but he didn't remove it. Not yet.

"Mom and Dad are really great. They're just as caring as I remember them to be. I wish I never ran away from them… I wish I hadn't forgotten them, or you, either… It's been hard getting used to everything. I can remember my past now, but it still feels like someone else's life sometimes. Kind of like I'm watching a movie. I know it's all real though. Without our parents, I don't I would have been able to get used to everything as quickly as I did," said Jack.

His hand continued to grow numb, but his mind was alert with a mixture of emotions.

"I went to visit your grave, you know. I tried to talk to you there, but since your body… or whatever's left of it… is still here, it felt weird. Did you hear me? I mean, you might not even be hearing me now, but… well…," Jack trailed off. "Oh, yeah! I brought you a gift. It's your Christmas present. I haven't gotten you one in a while… I hope you can forgive me…"

Using his still-gloved hand, Jack removed a small package from the pocket of his coat.

"Here you go!" he smiled. "I'll just leave it here, and it will sink down to you when the ice melts."

Suddenly, Jack heard a voice calling for him.

"Hey, Jack, Ms. Lilly made hot chocolate!" Toothiana called from the edge of the lake. "Come get some!"

"I'll be right there!" the boy called back before he turned back to the ice.

Slowly, he removed his hand from its surface. It had grown red from the contact, but it hadn't caused any damage. Hack slid his glove back on, allowing the warmth to bring the feeling back into his hand.

"Well, I have to go, sis. I'll try to come back before I have to go home, okay?" Jack spoke to his surroundings. "I love you, Sarah. Merry Christmas."

With that, Jack stood up from the ice and carefully made his way back to the shore. Toothiana was still standing there, waiting for him. She smiled.

"Last one there's a rotten tooth!" she chirped playfully before running off.

Jack glanced back at the lake one last time before chasing after her, his laugh echoing through the forest.

The End.


End file.
